PVS Download and Installation

We provide source, and also pre-built binaries using Allegro Lisp,
SBCL, and CMU Lisp, depending on the version. Unless you plan on
building the system yourself, or are a commercial entity, we recommend
getting the Allegro binaries with the click-through license as it is
faster and more thoroughly tested.

PVS Allegro Lisp Binaries (free, but requires a license agreement)

Noncommercial entities: you may freely download Allegro runtime
versions of PVS, but you must read and accept the
"click-through" license that comes up when you choose an allegro
download.

Commercial entities: if you have an existing, current PVS license, simply
accept the "click-through" license, otherwise first contact us at pvs-licensing@csl.sri.com

PVS Binaries Installation

Installation of binaries is simple: Create a new PVS directory (name
doesn't matter), cd to it, untar the file(s), run
bin/relocate, and you should be able to start PVS with
./pvs. You can then copy this script to a directory in your path,
or add the PVS directory to your path. All of the above tarfiles should
be untarred in the same directory (but not with different PVS
version numbers); just make sure to rerun bin/relocate. Note:
there is now only one file needed for installation, it includes the
system, binary, and library files.

If you have existing PVS specifications, it's best to make a copy
before running them through a newer version of PVS. This makes it easier
to repair proofs (comparing proofs side-by-side in different PVS
versions), and makes it simpler to revert back to the older version of PVS
if for some reason you don't want to move to the new version (please tell
us why at pvs-sri@csl.sri.com).

PVS Notes

PVS is now open source, under the GNU General Public License
(GPL). Informally, this means you can get the sources, and do
whatever you want with them, except distribute them with software that is
unavailable under a GPL-compatible license. PVS uses a dual license model;
if you are interested in alternative licensing terms contact us at pvs-license@csl.sri.com.

In order to make the sources useful in a purely open-source
environment, PVS has been ported to CMU Common Lisp, which is also
freely available. However, it is currently slower than the Allegro
version, so we distribute both. Note that the Intel Mac version is
currently only available with Allegro Common Lisp.

PVS sources are currently available as a tarball. See the included
INSTALL file or go to pvs-wiki/Building_PVS.

In the future, we will have a subversion repository available so that
you can keep up with the bleeding edge of PVS development.

PVS 4 is available for Sparc machines with Solaris 2 or later and
Intel x86 Machines with Linux compatible with Redhat 5 or later.

When trying a different version of PVS on existing specifications, it
is always a good idea to make a copy first, as there are usually some
incompatibilities.

We intend to make all earlier versions of PVS available indefinitely,
though as hardware and software moves forward (sideways?) it may become
increasingly difficult to get it to run.

Installation is simple:
Create a new PVS directory (name doesn't matter), cd to it, untar
the files, run ./bin/relocate, and you should be able to run
./pvs. Copy this script to a directory in your path, or add the
PVS directory to your path.

Note: We no longer provide the Emacs 19 files, please
upgrade to Emacs or XEmacs 20 or greater. If you really need to run PVS
with Emacs 19, contact us at pvs-sri@csl.sri.com

Installing Even Earlier Versions

Installing Everything Else

PVS relies on several other programs being installed on your machine. It
is essential that you have Emacs (version 19 or later), and
desirable that you have LaTeX, Tcl/Tk.

Emacs

PVS uses GNU Emacs as its interface; you need Emacs version 19.34 or
later to get all the features of PVS; earlier versions of Emacs
generally work adequately, but some capabilities will be missing,
notably the menus and font-lock support. The Emacs command M-x
emacs-version will tell you what version of Emacs you have
installed at your site. PVS also works with XEmacs (version 19.13 or
later).

Note that PVS 2.4 does not work with Emacs 18. Support for Emacs 19 is
available in the file pvs-2.4-emacs19.tgz.

Some PVS functions (e.g. proof trees) use Tcl/Tk. For these to work,
you must have Tcl/Tk versions 7.3/3.6 or later installed at your site,
and the "wish" executable must be on your path You can check this by
typing wish at a shell prompt - a little window should pop up -
type info tclversion and set tk_version to the
% prompt (NOT in the little window) to check the
versions. Ctrl-c to exit.

LaTeX version 2.09 or 2e is required for typesetting specifications and
proofs. Type latex at a shell prompt to make sure LaTeX is
available and to see the version number (\bye and x to
quit). You'll also need a previewer, which is likely to be called
"xdvi".